Whiplash Injury | Johns Hopkins Medicine

What is a whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to your neck. It is caused by your neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa. The injury, which is poorly understood, usually involves the muscles, discs, nerves, and tendons in your neck.

What causes a whiplash?

Most whiplash injuries result from a collision that includes sudden acceleration or deceleration. Many whiplash injuries occur when you are involved in a rear-end automobile collision. They also happen as a result of a sports injury, particularly during contact sports.

What are the symptoms of a whiplash?

These are the most common symptoms of whiplash:

• Neck pain

• Neck stiffness

• Shoulder pain

• Low back pain

• Dizziness

• Pain in your arm or hand

• Numbness in your arm or hand

• Ringing in your ears

• Blurred vision

• Concentration or memory problems

• Irritability

• Sleeplessness

• Tiredness

The symptoms of whiplash may look like other conditions and medical problems. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

How is a whiplash diagnosed?

Along with a complete medical history and physical exam, tests for whiplash may include the following. Many whiplash injuries include damage to soft tissue that can’t be seen on X-rays:

• X-ray. Electromagnetic energy beams produce images of internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film.

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Large magnets and a computer make detailed images of organs and soft tissue structures in your body.

• Computed tomography (CT) scan. X-rays and computer technology make horizontal, or axial, images (often called slices) of your body. A CT scan shows detailed images of any part of your body, including your bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT scans are more detailed than general X-rays.

How is a whiplash treated?

Your healthcare provider will determine specific treatment for whiplash, based on:

• Your age, overall health, and medical history

• Extent of your injury

• Your tolerance for specific medicines, procedures, or therapies

• Expectations for the course of your injury

• Your opinion or preference

Treatment may include:

• Ice applications for the first 24 hours

• Cervical (neck) collar

• Gentle, active movement after 24 hours

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs such as ibuprofen)

• Muscle relaxing medicines

• Physical therapy

• Osteopathic manipulation

What are the complications of a whiplash injury?

While most people who have a whiplash injury recover within a few weeks to a few months, some have persistent pain for several months or longer.

When should I call my healthcare provider?

If your symptoms have not improved within the time frame your healthcare provider suggested, let him or her know. Also, if your symptoms get worse or you get new symptoms, tell your provider.

Key points about whiplash

• Whiplash injury is poorly understood, but usually involves the muscles, discs, nerves, and tendons in your neck.

• It is caused by the neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa.

• Many whiplash injuries occur if you are involved in a rear-end automobile collision.

• Your healthcare provider will determine specific treatment for your whiplash.

Whiplash Injury | Cedars-Sinai

ABOUT

CAUSES
DIAGNOSIS

TREATMENT

NEXT STEPS

What is whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to your neck.
It’s caused by your neck bending forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa.
The
injury is not well understood. But it often affects the muscles, disks, nerves, and
tendons in your neck.

What causes whiplash?

Most whiplash injuries result from
a collision that includes sudden acceleration or deceleration. Many whiplash injuries
occur when you’re involved in a rear-end automobile collision. They also happen as
a
result of a sports injury, especially during contact sports.

What are the symptoms of whiplash?

These are the most common symptoms
of whiplash:

• Neck pain
• Neck stiffness
• Shoulder pain
• Low back pain
• Dizziness
• Pain in your arm or hand
• Numbness in your arm or hand
• Irritability
• Sleeplessness
• Tiredness
• Trouble turning your head

These symptoms may be caused by
other health problems. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis.

How is whiplash diagnosed?

Along with a complete health
history and physical exam, tests for whiplash may include:

• X-ray. Electromagnetic energy beams make images of
  internal tissues, bones, and organs onto film. But many whiplash injuries include
  damage to soft tissue that can’t be seen on X-rays.
• MRI. Large magnets and a computer make detailed images of
  organs and soft tissue structures in your body.
• CT scan. X-rays and computer technology make detailed
  images of any part of your body, including your bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT
  scans are more detailed than general X-rays.

How is whiplash treated?

Treatment will depend on your symptoms, age, and general health. It
will also depend on how severe the condition is.

Treatment may include:

• Applying ice for the first 24
  hours
• Neck (cervical) collar
• Gentle, active movement after 24
  hours
• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
  (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen
• Muscle relaxing medicines
• Physical therapy
• Osteopathic manipulation
• Topical gels or shots into the neck to ease pain

What are possible complications of whiplash?

Most people who have a whiplash
injury recover within a few weeks to a few months. Some people have persistent pain
for
several months or longer.

When should I call my healthcare provider?

Call your healthcare provider
if:

• Your symptoms haven’t improved in the time frame your
  provider advised
• Your symptoms get worse
• You have new symptoms

Key points about whiplash

• Whiplash is not well understood, but
  it often affects the muscles, disks, nerves, and tendons in your neck.
• It’s caused by the neck bending
  forcibly forward and then backward, or vice versa.
• Many whiplash injuries occur if you
  are involved in a rear-end automobile collision.
• Your healthcare provider will
  determine specific treatment for your whiplash.

Next steps

Tips to help you get the most from
a visit to your healthcare provider:

• Know the reason for your visit and
  what you want to happen.
• Before your visit, write down
  questions you want answered.
• Bring someone with you to help you ask
  questions and remember what your provider tells you.
• At the visit, write down the name of a
  new diagnosis, and any new medicines, treatments, or tests. Also write down any new
  instructions your provider gives you.
• Know why a new medicine or treatment
  is prescribed, and how it will help you. Also know what the side effects are.
• Ask if your condition can be treated
  in other ways.
• Know why a test or procedure is
  recommended and what the results could mean.
• Know what to expect if you do not take
  the medicine or have the test or procedure.
• If you have a follow-up appointment,
  write down the date, time, and purpose for that visit.
• Know how you can contact your provider
  if you have questions.

Medical Reviewer: Joseph Campellone MD

Medical Reviewer: Marianne Fraser MSN RN

Medical Reviewer: Raymond Kent Turley BSN MSN RN

© 2000-2022 The StayWell Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional’s instructions.

Whiplash

Car accidents are often accompanied by such a situation. The impact of the car from behind causes the passenger or driver to sharply tilt their head forward, followed by a strong throw back. A blow to the car in front, on the contrary, causes a sharp throwing of the head back and a subsequent strong tilt forward.

Both cause damage to the cervical spine called whiplash. If a passenger or driver is wearing a seat belt, the chance of a whiplash injury is greatly increased.

Car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash in the neck. But this damage can also occur during a jump into the water from a springboard or during an unsuccessful fall. What is the danger of such an injury and what does it represent?

Whiplash damages the ligaments of the spine and neck muscles. Possible damage to the intervertebral joints in the cervical region. The spinal cord and nerve roots are relatively rarely injured. But this is no reason to underestimate the situation. Swelling of soft tissues causes compression of the nerve roots and pain in the neck, neck-collar zone.

These symptoms are especially pronounced in cases where there is already cervical osteochondrosis. Hence the diagnosis of “traumatic exacerbation of osteochondrosis.” Considering that up to half of people over 35-40 years of age suffer from this disease of varying severity, whiplash is a serious case that requires treatment. After all, it can accelerate the development of the disease and even lead to an intervertebral hernia. And this is either surgery or paralysis. It is better to prevent such a scenario than to deal with it.

In addition, whiplash is often the cause of cervical artery syndrome, a complex of symptoms associated with impaired blood supply to the brain.

An artery passes through the cervical spine, which feeds the brain. Whiplash pain causes a reciprocal muscle spasm, which after a while becomes persistent. Spasmodic muscle fibers compress the artery, and blood flow to the brain worsens. There is a whole range of symptoms, including headache, impaired coordination of movements, unsteady gait, visual disturbances, decreased brain activity, memory impairment and mental performance. Jumps in blood pressure are possible.

In addition, whiplash can cause such symptoms of osteochondrosis exacerbation as numbness in the hand, muscle weakness of the hand. But in most cases it doesn’t come to that. The most common symptom of whiplash injury is pain and limited mobility in the neck, pain in the back of the head.

The most commonly used painkillers for whiplash are the ointments advertised on TV. In severe cases, they resort to injections of lidocaine – anesthetic blockades. But both the first and the second do not heal the injury, but simply let the process take its course.

Meanwhile, the danger of whiplash is not limited to the possibility of a herniated disc. It can lead to progressive destruction of the cervical intervertebral joints – spondylarthrosis. The mobility of the neck in this disease is gradually limited to the point that the person is completely unable to turn or tilt his head. Another danger is fibrosis of the vertebral ligaments in the cervical region and cervical muscles.

Hence the conclusion that whiplash must be treated. Anti-inflammatory ointments will not help with this. The help of a doctor is required. And best of all, complex oriental medicine copes with such cases. But first it is necessary to exclude serious traumatic injuries – fractures of the vertebrae, intervertebral joints, the formation of a sequestered hernia. Therefore, without an X-ray, and even better, an MRI of the cervical region is indispensable.

Once major complications have been ruled out, serious treatment can begin. Serious in this case does not mean long-term. Already several complex sessions will relieve the symptoms of trauma and minimize the risk of its complications.

The first thing the doctor will do is remove the pain and inflammation. For this, in oriental medicine, acupuncture is used, that is, the introduction of needles into certain points in the spine. This procedure relieves muscle tension. In addition, it has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. Due to the introduction of needles, the swelling of the soft tissues around the nerve roots decreases and then disappears. The pressure on the nerves disappears and the pain goes away.

The muscle spasm can then be completely relieved with acupressure. Further, manual therapy is used, but not always, but only in cases where cervical traction is indicated. With the help of manual techniques, the doctor reduces pressure on the intervertebral discs, reduces subluxations and displacements of the vertebrae, and releases the nerve roots.

After these three procedures, the pain in the neck, occiput and cervico-collar region disappears, swelling subsides, muscle tension disappears, and neck mobility is restored. This treatment produces positive results in almost 100% of uncomplicated cases of whiplash.

If an x-ray or MRI shows a fracture or a complex hernia, Oriental medicine can do little to help. You may need surgery or other radical treatments. In this case, oriental methods will help already at the stage of rehabilitation, for faster recovery and minimizing the risk of delayed complications.

A feature of oriental medicine for whiplash is that it accelerates and activates the natural recovery processes. It accelerates healing, improves metabolic processes in the structures of the cervical region. At the same time, it well relieves pain syndromes, inflammation and swelling, removes muscle spasms and tension. All this in combination gives very good results not only in chronic diseases of the spine, but also in traumatic injuries, such as whiplash.

Neck taping after whiplash

December 3, 2021

Whiplash is a serious injury to the cervical spine that can significantly reduce the quality of life and lead to disability. In the absence of treatment for six months, the pathology takes a chronic form. At the first sign of damage, you should immediately consult a doctor. This will provide the best chance of restoring neck mobility. Kinesiology taping will speed up recovery. You can even apply tape for neck pain yourself. However, it is important to carefully study the methodology and follow certain patterns.

Whiplash neck symptoms

Damage of this type is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• Persistent headaches. They are provoked by problems in the cervical region and are called cervicogenic. They arise as a result of damage to the upper cervical discs, disorders in the atlantoaxial, atlantooccipital, facet joints. Cervicogenic headache can develop into a migraine;
• Pain and heaviness in the arm. Most often caused by compression of the root of a herniated disc. The pain may “reflect” from other parts of the neck. Pain is not associated with nerve compression;
• Deterioration of concentration, memory impairment. In some cases, the cause is a mild concussion of the brain. These phenomena can also occur while taking painkillers. Depression, increased irritability develop;
• Back pain. Caused by damage to the discs, sacroiliac and facet joints;
• Sleep disturbance. May be caused by pain, depression;
• Violation of visual acuity, increased fatigue, tinnitus, etc.

Causes of damage

Whiplash injury of the cervical region occurs for the following reasons:

• accident. Most often, it is a strong blow in a car accident that leads to damage to the neck. In this case, seat belts do not save. They are designed to protect the body from other injuries;
• Sharp, violent blow to the head, sports injuries;
• Fall from height;
• Birth injury;
• Passion for extreme entertainment. In the case of a sharp change in the position of the head, with frequent turns of the neck, back from side to side, unpleasant complications can occur.

The cervical spine is the first to receive a negative impact on the body.

Whiplash severity

Doctors diagnose 4 degrees of severity of damage:

• I degree. Accompanied by pain and stiffness of the neck. Soft tissue damage is minor;
• II degree. Pain is accompanied by damage to muscles, ligaments, tendons. Pain is felt in the head and upper limbs;
• III degree. Injuries are accompanied by neurological disorders;
• IV degree. There are fractures and dislocations of the vertebrae. The patient needs hospitalization immediately after injury.

Whiplash Diagnosis

To determine the type of injury, the doctor conducts an examination, clarifies the circumstances of the injury, prescribes an x-ray. With the help of a picture, a specialist assesses the condition of the spine, the presence of possible fractures. If there is a suspicion of spinal cord compression or intervertebral hernia, the specialist additionally prescribes MRI, CT, myelogram.

Benefits of Kinesio Taping

Application of kinesiology tape for cervical spine injury provides the following benefits:

• The application relieves muscle tension;
• Application of kinesio tapes allows you to remove puffiness, treat tissue inflammation;
• Whiplash neck taping helps restore joint mobility;
• Metabolic processes are normalized;
• The procedure improves the conduction of nerve impulses in the brain;
• Tapes properly adhered to the skin reduce the severity of pain.

Due to the elasticity of the bands active movements are possible. With applications, you can perform therapeutic and preventive exercises.

Whiplash treatment with taping can be enhanced by other rehabilitation methods. Increases the effectiveness of manual therapy. The effect will be noticeable after a couple of hours after applying the patches. The pain completely disappears after a few days. The duration of wearing plasters for whiplash injuries can be up to 5 days.

Application

When applying tapes for injuries of the cervical spine, it is important to avoid strong tension. During the application of teips, the head is bent at a slight inclination. A decompression bandage should be created according to the scheme used for osteochondrosis, in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe greatest pain. Tapes 5 cm wide can be used or lymphatic drainage applications can be created from “noodles”. To do this, the patches are cut into small fringes. Lymphatic drainage technique will avoid swelling in the damaged area.

You can learn how to properly glue tapes on the neck at online taping courses. Training is conducted on the basis of the Academy of Therapeutic Taping.

Despite the high efficiency of taping, it has limitations for its application.

Kinesiology patches are not recommended for patients with:

• elevated body temperature,
• thromboses,
• benign and malignant tumors,
• reflux disease,
• kidney diseases,
• diabetes mellitus (may cause severe modified insulin requirements), etc.

Taping is not safe in the acute phases of any disease. The patches are not sterile, so they must not be used on damaged areas of the body.

How to choose

When choosing kinesio tapes, it is important to pay attention to the following parameters:

• Material. It is recommended to use products made from natural fabrics. The best option is cotton patches with hypoallergenic glue;
• Size. Tapes are supplied in rolls 1.2-32 m long. Tape width can vary from 2.5 to 10 cm.
• Producer. Korean-made products received excellent recommendations. Japanese, European, American teips are also characterized by high quality and safety indicators;
• Colour, design. The choice of color is made solely on the basis of individual preferences. The color does not reflect the specific properties of the product. Ribbons are presented in discreet shades and bright colors, may contain prints, inscriptions, drawings.